To the Lighthouse & The Waves

Columbia Critical Guides

by Virginia Woolf

"To the Lighthouse" – The Ramsey family arrives to their summer house in the Hebrides, on the Isle of Sky in Scotland. They plan to visit the island's lighthouse one day, but the weather doesn't allow them and that creates some tension between family members. As the Ramsays have been joined at the house by a number of friends and colleagues, the trip to the lighthouse doesn't happen. Passing of the time brings death and grief to the Ramsey family, but the tension is still there.
"The Waves" consists of soliloquies spoken by six characters: Bernard, Susan, Rhoda, Neville, Jinny, and Louis. Also important is Percival, the seventh character, though we never hear him speak in his own voice. The soliloquies that span the characters' lives are broken up by nine brief third-person interludes detailing a coastal scene at varying stages in a day from sunrise to sunset. As the six characters or "voices" speak Woolf explores concepts of individuality, self and community. Each character is distinct, yet together they compose a gestalt about a silent central consciousness.

Genres: Classics, Fiction

218 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 6, 1999

About the author

(Adeline) Virginia Woolf was an English novelist and essayist regarded as one of the foremost modernist literary figures of the twentieth century.

During the interwar period, Woolf was a significant figure in London literary society and a member of the Bloomsbury Group. Her most famous works include the novels Mrs. Dalloway (1925), To the Lighthouse (1927), and Orlando (1928), and the book-length essay A Room of One's Own (1929) with its famous dictum, "a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction."

Reviews

[Sir He-Man · Rating 5 out of 5]

I couldn't find just To the Lighthouse listed anywhere here, so I'll just say Virginia Woolf is amazing. One of the best authors of the 20th century and a pure joy to read. I look forward to reading the Waves very much.

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having studied this at degree level it was nice to just listen to Nicole Kidman’s relaxed narration and not have to deconstruct anything!

[Maria]

TO the Lighthouse is a keystone book. I find something new and the meaning changes for me each time I read it. They say each person describes the Mona Lisa as they see themselves. I believe this piece does the same for the intrinsic values one has, for the soul.

[Toni · Rating 3 out of 5]

I only read To the Lighthouse. I didn't like it as much as I thought I would. Interesting technique.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was very glad to be rereading this work. The story is carried along by the characters' internal thoughts. It is the prose descriptions of those thoughts which are brilliant.

[Jesse · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a (relatively brief) introduction to key critical/theoretical perspectives on these two texts, this is a pretty nifty little compilation, nicely selected and arranged by Goldman.